


Deliver Me

by bubblewrapstargirl



Series: One Shots [1]
Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Bliss, F/M, Fix-It, but we're ignoring that part, with Impending Doom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 15:43:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblewrapstargirl/pseuds/bubblewrapstargirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Take me with you."</p><p>What if Agent Howard had said yes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deliver Me

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Haven - Nathan/Audrey Never Let Me Go](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/25434) by BobbyMcGriffin. 



In the beginning, James sleeps.

Audrey worries that he won't ever wake up, but Agent Howard assures her that this isn't so.

They've got 27 years. James will heal. All in due time.

Nathan is there. His presence is solid as stone. Safe, reliable, wonderful Nathan.

Audrey loves him with every piece that she trusts is truly her.

-

The endless white is disturbing at first.

Audrey elects to walk through her memories, most days. It's a good distraction.

Every part of Sarah is recognisable.

If Audrey had lived in the years proceeding the Second World War, she would have followed much the same path.

Lucy is not the same.

Lucy is... cold.

Audrey doesn't recognise herself and it stings, like an injury not yet healed, being pressed upon by a lead weight.

"Parker." Nathan presses his hand, firm but gentle, against Audrey's back. "That's enough."

She doesn't protest.

-

Their room is white.

White bed; sturdy white wooden frame, white sheets and bedding. 

Sleeping beside Nathan becomes a trial all it's own.

In the beginning, Audrey simply doesn't sleep.

The barn refreshes her enough that she doesn't need to.

She doesn't want to waste the time; she would much rather watch Nathan rest.

She's seen him die twice.

Audrey watches him breathe; in, out. A steady rhythm of his chest rising, falling, rising.

She presses her hand against his sternum, feels his stong heart beat against her palm.

She presses her lips to his brow and ignores the tears that slide down her cheeks.

Nathan is all that is best of her.

She won't ever lose sight of that again. 

-

"Audrey."

Her name is always the first word that falls from Nathan's lips when he wakes.

She smiles, and kisses his chapped lips.

She loves him, loves him, loves him.

He is everything worth protecting.

-

She doesn't know how long they've been here.

Nathan kisses her and she responds in kind. There is no need to fear the depth of her affections now.

The worst has already happened.

He wraps her in his arms and she folds herself under his aegis.

Audrey knows he feels every inch of her bare skin; how much she desires him.

They make love; slow and true, then rough and ephemeral.

An endless tide crashing over them, devouring them whole.

She is only complete when she is beside him.

-

Audrey's days become an achromic infinity of encasement, in the warmth of Nathan's adoration.

"I cherish you," He whispers into the back of her neck; thinking her asleep.

She doesn't disabuse him of the notion.

She already knows the depth of his devotion.

He, more than any man she has ever known, deserves this moment of privacy.

Nathan is open, honest and true. His heart is laid bare for all to see.

Just this once, she wants him to feel protected from raw honesty.

She will never use his love for her against him again; a solemn vow she makes to anyone listening to her prayers.

-

James is wary of them at first.

They are his parents but they didn't raise him.

He is their son, but he was born in an era neither of them can truly relate to.

The Troubles brought him nothing but heartache.

But the Troubles brought Nathan and Audrey together, and gave them love; and James is the fruit of that devotion.

In time, he will come to learn how much of their hearts they are willing to succumb to him.

All will be well.

-

"Audrey?"

James always speaks in a quiet, measured tone of voice.

She brushes his short hair off his sweat-damp brow.

"Will you sing to me?"

She purses her lips. She's not much of a singer.

But there is a piano in her memories, and the shadow, memory version of her plays a mournful tune.

Clear, bright notes resonate in the stale air long after her ghost's fingers have stilled.

-

No matter how slowly time seems to pass here, they do not have forever.

They do not age, nor tire. Neither do they crave food or drink, or exercise.

Memories are all they need.

-

When James can walk again, Nathan takes him through memories of good days with the Chief; kite-flying, shooting ranges, Christmas when his mother was still alive.

They watch Nathan and Audrey and Duke drink in the Grey Gull, and solve crimes, and eat Rosemary's pastries and get cream smeared all over their faces.

James sees Audrey rush into Nathan's arms, unflinchingly, after her ordeal with Arla. The relief on their faces brings tears to his eyes.

They dance at Nathan's high school reuion and James begins to sob, thick tears sliding down his handsome face.

Audrey draws him into her arms, and doesn't let go until his shoulders cease shaking.

-

He falls asleep between them, their grown son.

The boy with Audrey's eyes and Nathan's jaw; curled safe betwixt Audrey's open adoration and Nathan's steadfast fealty.

-

They do not have forever.

With each moment that passes, they are hurtled towards a time when Audrey will forget everything that she is.

Every second, a tiny piece of her is washed away, like a single grain of sand dragged far into the sea.

They will not have forever, but they have now.

They are the fortunate ones. They have found the other pieces of their soul, and in the privacy of their own world, they can relive their most precious memories.

For 27 years, they will remain here, safe in love.

It is all the compensation they have.

It will never be enough.

-

_the arms of the ocean_  
 _are carrying me_  
 _and all this devotion_  
 _was rushing out of me_  
 _and the crashes are heaven_  
 _for a sinner released_  
 _but the arms of the ocean_  
 _deliver me_


End file.
